From a man recently described as “running our country”…
Instagram, once known for its filters and food pictures, is now the social media platform of choice for celebrities such as the recently-liberated Love Island Contestants.
But elsewhere on the app, another public figure continues to make waves. Boasting a more modest 54,000 followers, Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has been delighting fans for over a year now with his mix of self-deprecating humour and upper-class quirks.
On a recent on a family holiday in New York City, the backbencher made headlines when he shared a photo of himself atop the Empire State Building in his signature double-breasted suit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl23Qlrl8lV/
With that in mind, JOE decided to take a deeper dive into the Brexiteer’s Instagram feed, so you don’t have to.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk7wWKSFQAz/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
Posted on the day of England’s World Cup quarter final victory over Sweden, here Rees-Mogg shows his common touch by hanging an England flag from a balcony at his 17th Century country home, Gournay Court.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhdzI5Jl5UX/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
The “great reaction on the doorstep” photo is a thriving industry on social media, in which politicians turn up for a photo with activists and party members and pretend that the public didn’t react with scorn, anger or indifference. Here, the facial expressions capture the full gamut of emotions whenever my IBS flares up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlKxKUQlspi/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
If you’re going to have a thinly-veiled dig at your boss, why not do it through the medium of everyone’s favourite political cartoonist, the genius that is The Telegraph’s Matt? Rees-Mogg nails it with his hilarious doodle.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWJ_85gFCxW/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
Here, we are treated to a touching photo of Rees-Mogg with his youngest child, moments before handing him over to the family nanny.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf6Wdojl7jG/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
‘Keep Calm and X’, the Twat’s Refrain to you and I, appears here on a mug gifted to Rees-Mogg by Plymouth MP Johnny Mercer. Not only does this show that Tories are just like you and I in that they buy each other gifts they neither want nor need, but also it shows that they drink hot drinks, like humans.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdxAEoqlC31/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
The talent pool of Tory celebs is so shallow that you pretty much get drafted straight to the A-list if you mention how much you love buy-to-let landlords, for example. You also get Tory MPs wanting to have their photo taken with you, for the novelty for meeting someone under 40 more than anything.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWqFiVYFNXn/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
Calling Jess Phillips “everyone’s favourite socialist” is actually a pretty good burn of socialists, and Jess Phillips.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUM7DYuFXmb/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
This is actually a still from my favourite ever Little Britain sketch. I have no idea why he posted this one.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbeOeYYli2T/?taken-by=jacob_rees_mogg
I feel you, small boy whose morning activity has been interrupted by a Jacob Rees-Mogg photo op. I feel you.
So there you have it. Inch by Inch, it seems, the Conservatives are understanding how to communicate on social media.